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Post by Kye on Oct 21, 2019 15:41:42 GMT
I've been reading some novels from Britain and Australia and I have been irrationally annoyed by their use of "meant to" as in "I think we're meant to use this door". I would say "I think we're supposed to use this door". I would use "meant to" either as a destined event "We were meant to be together" or for something someone wanted to do, but it didn't happen "I meant to call you, but something came up".
Do Brits and Aussies always use "meant to"? Do they never use "supposed to"? Inquiring minds want to know...
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Post by Mari on Oct 21, 2019 16:18:07 GMT
I meant to reply, but I suppose I don't really have an answer. In all seriousness though, I think I use meant to more often. Not sure why. I think suppose sounds more uncertain.
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Post by tangent on Oct 21, 2019 19:01:08 GMT
I can't say I have a definite opinion on this. Nor does Pat.
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Post by JoeP on Oct 21, 2019 19:15:34 GMT
I think "meant to" and "supposed to" are equivalent in British English in terms of rules or someone else's intention, not just your own.
"We're meant to use this door" sounds perfectly fine. "These biscuits were meant to be eaten."
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Post by Kye on Oct 22, 2019 1:58:49 GMT
Sigh. I don't know why it annoys me so much.
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Post by JoeP on Oct 22, 2019 9:08:46 GMT
You're not meant to be annoyed by it
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Post by Kye on Oct 22, 2019 11:24:22 GMT
You're supposed to be supportive of my idiosyncrasies!
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Post by JoeP on Oct 22, 2019 14:21:58 GMT
I meant to be. I suppose that I may not have been.
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Post by raspberrybullets on Oct 23, 2019 8:51:58 GMT
Meant to sounds good to me. So does supposed to. But I'd lean towards meant to more than supposed to. Australian English often interchanges American and British ways of language. Though I think we're on our own with capsicum!
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Post by JoeP on Oct 23, 2019 11:15:34 GMT
Capsicum as in sweet peppers (bell peppers in the US)?
I would have thought capsicum was a reasonably well-known term here.
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Post by Kye on Oct 23, 2019 11:33:34 GMT
We say red (or yellow or green) peppers rather than bell peppers. I've heard of capsicum but we don't commonly use it.
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Post by raspberrybullets on Oct 27, 2019 9:37:13 GMT
I think we might be the only ones (and maybe the NZers) that use it as the regular term. Pepper is the black spice to us.
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Post by bobbridges on Jan 27, 2020 1:29:01 GMT
Showing up late, here, but I think in the US at least we say something is meant when we're talking about an intention by forces (or Forces) other than people. To something is meant is sort of like saying it's fated, or (if you're a theist) that God intended it. If man were meant to fly he'd have wings—that sort of thing. "Supposed", on the other hand, is more moral in nature; "you're not supposed to do that" means it's against the rules. Obviously there's a lot of overlap and wiggle room in there.
That's in the passive voice. If you say "I meant to do A", "meant" simply means "intended".
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